South Africa is preparing for the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, to be held between 22 and 24 October, with special attention to agricultural exports. One of the country’s main objectives is the reduction and elimination of trade tariffs between members of the group. This is repoted by Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.

Thabile Nkunjana, a senior economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council (Namc), emphasised that South Africa’s participation in the XVI BRICS+ Summit should be driven mainly by the goal of expanding markets for agricultural exports, including Middle Eastern markets such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Of particular interest to South Africa are China and India, which are major importers of agricultural products. The products that these countries import are the same ones that South Africa exports.

The country is also looking for unused land where agriculture can be developed with the creation of new jobs in the sector. The recent inclusion of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new BRICS members significantly expands the boundaries of South Africa’s agricultural exports. Closer relations with the association’s members are important for the country to maintain confidence and advance its trade policy.

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